Food for Thought
by Random Guise
Summary: At the end of the movie "The Incredible Mr. Limpet", we leave Henry being given a promotion to Commodore by the US Navy. What happened after that to the armed services' only officer who was also a fish? Another previously empty category. I don't own these characters, and I haven't been in a pool in years.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: A short update to the ending of the movie "The Incredible Mr. Limpet".**

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Food for Thought

"You can see the chart for yourself" Admiral John Harlock, retired, stated as he traced the graph with his finger. "The scientists' measurement of porpoise intelligence shows an abrupt leveling off in June after a continual rise from 1964 to the middle of 1968."

Captain George Stickel studied the chart and could only come to the same conclusion. "The rise coincides to the same time we had contact with Henry."

The Henry referred to was the famous Commodore Henry Limpet; the only member of the Navy who was in fact a fish although this fact was known only to a select few. An accident early in World War II had caused the near-sited and 4F classified Henry to fall into the water at Coney Island, where an unknown process transformed him from a man into a fish as he was drowning. While the transformation fulfilled Henry's greatest wish, it proved quite a shock to his wife Bessie and his best friend George; both believed that he had perished. George only believed the truth later when confronted in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on the water's surface by a talking fish, wearing the pince-nez glasses of his friend while the creature divulged knowledge only Henry would know. It led to a partnership where Henry would use his unique abilities to help the Navy hunt and destroy German U-boats, giving a decisive edge to what would become victory in the Atlantic and ultimately overcome the tyranny that threatened the world at the time.

"That's right," the admiral confirmed "after his promotion to commodore in 1964 and becoming liaison to our test subjects in project Ocean Friend we've measured a fairly steady increase in porpoise intelligence. When he stared working with dolphins as well their measurements went up accordingly. Then the measurements suddenly leveled and we've had no further communication with the commodore. It doesn't look good captain; call it an old salt's intuition, but I can't help but think something has gone terribly wrong."

"Maybe he retired, sir" George suggested. "We've certainly gotten older, you're a civilian now and I won't be too far behind. Even a fish has to get old; that's food for thought."

"Maybe so, although I think in Henry's case there is no way we can tell how long he'll live; the man...er, fish...is unique. But do you think he would retire without telling anyone? Especially you?"

George thought hard. "No, it's not like him. He could be a little absent-minded sometimes or given to daydreaming, but he was never inconsiderate. Maybe he..." George said before he paused and paled "...got eaten by a shark. Or maybe taken by aliens."

Harlock clapped the man on his back. "I don't think so; if he could outwit all those Nazi subs I don't think a shark is going to give him any trouble. And if it was aliens, then my contacts in Project Bluebook would have let me know. No, I don't think we'll ever know what happened. We'll have to chalk it up to something like the Bermuda Triangle and file it under 'unsolved' in the big cabinet."

...

Mary Anderson was preparing the lunch for her son's day at school. An apple and bag of chips already packed in the Lost in Space lunch box, she turned back to the counter and started making the sandwich. Mayonnaise and pickles went into a bowl, and she opened a can of tuna only to pause just before she added the contents to the mix. A puzzled look crossed her face before she tossed the full can into the trash and opened another and added its contents to the bowl. Finishing the sandwich, she wrapped it up and added it to the lunch box before putting it on the table and leaving the kitchen. She never looked into the trash again to see the can with a partial pair of eyeglasses mixed in the tuna, and forgot the incident after guessing that they had fallen off some factory canning worker.

The End

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**A/N: I could make a pun about The Ghost and Mr. Chicken of the Sea but it would be a little too obscure for most people. The movie took place years before the big "dolphin-safe tuna" push hit the seafood suppliers.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I've had a few readers who were maybe just a LITTLE let down by the ending of the story, so in response I have provided an additional scene that was "accidentally" left out when it was posted. I have let the editor go with a stern warning not to do it again, and hopefully I won't. But no promises *wink***

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"You know, Ladyfish, since I lost my glasses in that school of tuna I'm just going to have retire. I can't see without 'em" Henry lamented as he swam slowly through the water. He could see vague shapes around him, but the details were quite lost due to his limited vision.

"But Henry," the female fish beside him countered "I can be your eyes! You did it before with Crusty."

"Thanks for offering, but that was during the war when I had to if I wanted to save my country. It's peacetime now, at least as far as I'm concerned. I've put in my time; the Navy has plenty of fine officers to guard America now. I'm just going to spend my days with you now. Do you mind?"

"Do I mind? What a silly thing to ask!" Ladyfish said as she swam a few circles around Henry, tickling him in all the right spots with a deft touch of her fin. "Where do you want to go?"

"I don't know; I always wanted to visit Tahiti, I suppose we could go there! I've seen books with beautiful color pictures of some of the fish there."

"I don't know what books are. What are pictures? Are they like pincers?" she asked with a touch of alarm.

"No, they're just something you look at and they're perfectly safe. But I do kind of wonder who ended up with my glasses..."


End file.
